add to our listingsVenue Review: Summit
Lexington Herald-Leader
Back in the spring, I ran into restaurateur Wayne Masterman at a Derby Eve party. He told me that he had taken the lease on Emmett's Restaurant on Tates Creek Road and that he would rename it Summit. Well, it seemed that we'd meet again real soon. And so we did.
I have been to Summit twice. The first time was not long after it opened in May, when hardly anyone was there, and I sampled some delightful mussels ($10) and some wonderful fried rabbit ($28). But that was a sneak peek, not a review.
I went back last Friday for the review and I came away impressed.
Summit, just beyond Man o' War Boulevard and just off Tates Creek Road, is in an old house that has been transformed into a trendy, chic and expensive place to dine. The restaurant has several areas, including a bar room and patio, in which to dine. We were seated in the bar room, which has a clubby feel with its stone fireplace and French doors.
Summit's menu is wonderful. It offers large and small plates (large appetizer size), salads, pastas, Angus steaks and assorted sandwiches, including burgers.
For this review, we stuck with the small plates, which turned out to be plenty for everyone. We started with the appetizer special, soft-shell crab with chickpea fritters, and salad ($10). There aren't many things better than sautéed soft-shell crab, and this one (only one) was medium-size and delicious. The chickpea fritters were much like fried polenta (corn meal).
The next appetizer was fried calamari ($11). Tiny squid rings were dipped in a light batter and deep-fried. It was very much like tempura, and the squid rings were not overcooked. They were served with what seemed to be a very spicy remoulade, but I was told it was aioli with red chilies.
The soup of the day was dreamy: watermelon gazpacho ($5). Unlike tomato gazpacho, which is a chunky soup, this soup was thin and refreshing with watermelon flavor, and it had a kick.
The salads weren't bad, either. I had the spiced pecan/blue cheese salad ($9). This was a large salad of mainly leaf lettuce, but it was covered (not just sprinkled), from rim to rim with toasted spiced pecans. Inside were crumbles of Danish blue cheese and sun-dried cherries. It was lightly tossed with a mustard vinaigrette. I should have stopped here, but we also sampled the pizzetta ($9). This was a rosemary and Parmesan-rich flatbread topped with a roasted garlic head (they brought a cocktail fork for digging) and a wedge of cambozola cheese. It was much like a Camembert with a touch of blue mold. Very nice.
To wash all that food down, we ordered the Cigarzin zinfandel ($13 a glass), which was rich and almost chewy. It was a bit pricey but a wonderful wine.
Dessert included a pound cake topped with macerated peaches ($7). I'm not exactly sure what the peaches were macerated with other than sugar (maybe peach liquor), but it was a dreamy dessert. The peaches were perfect.
The second dessert, crème brûlée ($7), we took issue with. The flavor was fine, but the texture kind of threw us. It was stiffer than most I've had ... maybe overcooked. Texturally, it was more like a flan made with evaporated milk. Most people wouldn't have noticed, but I showed up. Shucks.
Summit has an excellent wait staff. Our server was very good. For the most part, he was Johnny-on-the-spot.
Dinner for two, including two glasses of wine, was $88. But remember, we had the small plates. If you order the large plates, you'll reach the summit before you know it.
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Finally, we have some place other than the Merrick and Malones on the south side! The owners of Portofino have opened another restaurant in the old Emmett's building just past Man-O-War off Tates Creek. The Summit has the same high standards and excellent service that thier sister restaurant, Portofino offers, and offers some lighter menu choices. For appetizers their menu is incredible. We tried the Tuna Carpaccio and it was fabulous. For salads we upgraded to the Pecan Blue Cheese and it was worth the upgrade. For dinner we had the Scallops and the Osso Bucco. Agian, they were wonderful. The scallops were the best I had ever tasted in Lexington. For dessert, we split the French Silk, a divine chocolate mousse with a raspberry coulis- and it was out of this world! Overall we were very pleased and look forward to our next visit. Thank you Wayne Masterman for offering a new fine dining restaurant to the south side.
Every entree on the Summit menu sounded delicious, and I can't wait to go back and try them. But on our first visit we were feeling frugal so I ordered the pizzetta & my boyfriend had the bacon cheeseburger. My pizzetta was tasty, but his burger was out of this world. It's made from filet, strip & ribeye and topped with bacon and white cheddar. Summit was the first restaurant to ever bring out a burger that was actually cooked medium rare, as requested. It was juicy, smoky, amazingly flavorful, and a steal at around $10. The desert of the day was a chocolate cup filled with raspberry mousse. It was a little difficult to eat because the chocolate cup was very thick and hard to break, but well worth the effort. Service was excellent, but it did take a while to get our food.
Wayne Masterman must be adding extra hours to the day in ordser to be the host of his restaurants.
When we entered Summit on a Saturday night, recently, he was at the lobby in under a minute and he seemed to be on his way elsewhere when he stopped and welcomed us.
The staff is very sharp looking and quite attentive. The menu is a nice break from standard steakhouse and local fine dining fare. We just ordered appetizers and wine because we just wanted lots of delicious bites of variety to enjoy. We were very pleased.
The pizzetta is quite wonderful and fun. It is a thin pizza type bread that comes with a slice of carambazola cheese (bleu) and a golden roasted head of garlic for you to squeeze out the candy like cloves. It's rich and decadent...the only addition i would add might be some golden raisins plumped in a gastrique of vinegar and sugar or honey. But no complaints here...the dish works and is easily shared. The server was quite a charmer...very informed and quite personable.
4 out of 5 stars here.
Back in the spring, I ran into restaurateur Wayne Masterman at a Derby Eve party. He told me that he had taken the lease on Emmett's Restaurant on Tates Creek Road and that he would rename it Summit. Well, it seemed that we'd meet again real soon. And so we did. (Full review)